“Clarence Gagnon is a French-Canadian artist known for his landscape paintings of Quebec. His print Going Home from Church reminded me of the Saturday mass I attend every week at the Montreal Chinese Catholic Church. After mass, we would all go to the church community centre, located just a few minutes’ walk away. In the winter, we would walk very fast with our heads bowed to escape the cold. This is the scene that Going Home from Church reminded me of, and that I wanted to represent in my painting. I appreciated the contrasts created by the vibrant colours in Gagnon’s work, and tried to recreate them in my painting.”

–Yuzhi An (Grade 9, Paramount Study, Montreal, Quebec)

Known for his Impressionist depictions of rural Quebec, Clarence Gagnon (1881–1942) was especially skilled at capturing his subject matter in the wintertime, producing still, snowy scenes comprised of contrasting light and shadow and vivid colour.